Ovechkin, Backstrom lead Capitals to 5-3 win over Flyers

Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom each had a goal and an assist, and the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 Wednesday night to reclaim sole possession of first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Brett Connolly, Tom Wilson and Andre Burakovsky also scored for the Capitals, who won their fifth straight and seventh in the last eight. Washington began the night tied with the Islanders atop the division.

Ovechkin moved one point from reaching 1,200 for his career. He will become the third active player and 49th all-time to reach the mark.

Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin celebrates his power play goal along with Evgeny Kuznetsov, rear, John Carlson, front, and T.J. Oshie, right, rear, during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Philadelphia. (AP PhotoTom Mihalek)

Braden Holtby made 27 saves for his 250th career victory.

Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist, and Scott Laughton and Philippe Myers also scored for the Flyers, whose rally from a 5-0 deficit fell short. Philadelphia had won 16 of 21 to close within reach of a postseason spot after sinking to the NHL's worst record in January. The Flyers remained seven points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

After taking a 2-0 lead in the first, Washington pushed its lead with three goals in the first 5:37 of the second.

Washington Capitals' Braden Holtby deflects the puck with his board during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Philadelphia. The Capitals won 5-3. (AP PhotoTom Mihalek)

Ovechkin opened the second-period scoring with a power-play tally at 2:32 with a wrist shot through goalie Brian Elliott's legs. It was the league-leading 46th goal for Ovechkin, who is four shy of reaching 50 goals for the eighth time in his career.

Burakovsky beat Elliott with a wrist shot from a sharp angle just under two minutes later to end Elliott's night. It was the first poor performance for Elliott since his return from a 40-game absence due to a lower body injury. He entered 3-0-1 in six appearances (four starts) since his return but allowed four goals on 19 shots against Washington.

The Capitals greeted Elliott's replacement, Cam Talbot, with more of the same, making it 5-0 on the first shot Talbot faced when a wide-open Backstrom fired a wrist shot high over the netminder from the slot.

Washington Capitals' Tom Wilson, left, and Philadelphia Flyers' Radko Gudas chase the puck behind the Flyers' net during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Philadelphia. (AP PhotoTom Mihalek)

Philadelphia got on the board with 11.3 seconds left in the period when Myers netted his first career goal.

Giroux then got his 20th on a backhander 10 seconds into the third, and it was 5-3 when Laughton's deflection beat Holtby at 7:48.

NOTES: Philadelphia forwards Jakub Voracek (lower body) and Nolan Patrick (upper body) didn't play. ... Flyers rookie G Carter Hart (lower body) missed his sixth consecutive game. ... Washington has won both games this season against the Flyers. The teams will meet twice more in the regular season, next Thursday in Philadelphia and March 24 in Washington. ... Ovechkin has 57 points (34 goals, 23 assists) in 51 games against Philadelphia.

Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin skates back to the bench after assisting on the goal by Tom Wilson during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Philadelphia. (AP PhotoTom Mihalek)

UP NEXT

Washington: Host New Jersey on Friday night.

Philadelphia: At the New York Islanders on Saturday night.

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The puck shot by Washington Capitals' Tom Wilson, not pictured, gets past Philadelphia Flyers goalie Brian Elliott for a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Philadelphia. (AP PhotoTom Mihalek)

Philadelphia Flyers' Brian Elliott, right, skates past Oskar Lindblom, left, as he leaves the game after giving up his fourth goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Philadelphia. (AP PhotoTom Mihalek)

Washington Capitals' Braden Holtby, left, defends the goal against the shot by Philadelphia Flyers' Oskar Lindblom during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Philadelphia. The Capitals won 5-3. (AP PhotoTom Mihalek)

NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Weathers was steamed when he found out he was joining the New York Yankees.

“I had had just finished up my bullpen and I get back to the house — I have like a little travel sauna,” he recalled Thursday. “I literally probably had sat on my couch for about two seconds and I got a phone call from Peter Bendix that I had been traded.”

Bendix, Miami's president of baseball operations, sent the 26-year-old left-hander to New York for four prospects on Tuesday: outfielders Brendan Jones and Dillon Lewis, and infielders Dylan Jasso and Juan Matheus.

Weathers is the son of David Weathers, a pitcher who helped the Yankees win the 1996 World Series after he was acquired from the Marlins at the trade deadline.

“We’ve kind of had a weird, similar paths as to how we got to New York,” Ryan Weathers said.

David was in the Dodger Stadium bullpen when he found out two minutes before the trade deadline he had been dealt to the Yankees. Manager Rene Lachemann called him on the bullpen phone and said Weathers needed to speak with general manager Dave Dombrowski.

“I went in the locker room and Kevin Brown, Al Leiter, John Burkett, Robb Nen, they said, `Hey man, good luck. You're going to win a World Series ring,' and they turned out to be prophetic,” David Weathers said.

David learned his son had been traded while watching a basketball game with wife Kelli at Loretto High School in Loretto, Tennessee, where he has coached baseball.

“One of my friends came up and said, `I think Ryan’s been traded to the Yankees.' And I said: `Well, if he has, I hadn’t heard anything about it,'" David recalled. "We laughed, and about that time my phone started ringing. It was Ryan.”

When Ryan makes his Yankees debut, they will become the fifth father-son duo for the pinstripes, joining Yogi and Dale Berra, Clay and Cody Bellinger, Mark Leiter and Mark Leiter Jr., and Ron Davis and Ike Davis.

Ryan was in shock when he spoke with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone.

“I just couldn’t believe that the New York Yankees were a team that I could ever have a chance to play for," he said.

New York’s rotation at the season's start projects to also include Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Luis Gil while Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón rehab from injuries.

Weathers, 26, was 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA in eight starts last year in his second straight injury-shortened season. He missed time with a strained left flexor, made his season debut on May 14, then didn’t pitch for Miami between June 7 and Sept. 11 because of a left lat strain.

He was 5-6 with a 3.63 ERA over 16 starts in 2024, when he was sidelined by a strained left index finger.

“This is the best I’ve probably felt in a year-and-a-half,” Weathers said. “I really did a dive and worked with company on figuring out how to lengthen my lat out, lengthen my back out. We really adjusted a lot of my lifting patterns. We really adjusted my mobility and my prep work, and I think my arm is reaping the benefits right now.”

Ryan grew up in big league clubhouses and remembered the Cincinnati Reds' room with Ken Griffey Jr. and Joey Votto. He played pickle with Dusty Baker, Ramón Hernández, Eric Milton and Juan Castro.

“There’s been a lot of hours put in the Cincinnati Reds' batting cages,” Weathers said. “I just remember Pops taking me to the field every day. I know when his arm was hurting, he’d still throw me BP.”

Ryan was the seventh overall pick by San Diego in the 2008 amateur draft and made his first big league appearance against the Dodgers in the 2020 NL Division Series — among only six players to make a major league debut in the postseason. His dad's knowledge helped him during tough times.

“When I first started going through it and getting adversity and getting traded, he really helped me along those lines of figuring out: This is what you do with your new team. This was what you do in your day-to-day,” Ryan said. “So I’ve been doing mechanics since I was age 10.”

He has remained close with pitcher Aaron Harang, a teammate of his father who last played in 2015.

“He still texts me all the time,” Weathers said. “When I was younger, I didn’t really care about pitching. I just wanted to hit bombs in the outfield, so I didn’t really think about it.”

For David, pitching in the World Series was less nerve-racking than being in the seats at Ryan's games.

“It’s way tougher being a dad and watching your son pitch than being a pitcher,” David said. “When he pitches, man, it is just like all day, it’s like I’m pitching. I’m thinking about what I would do, how I would attack these guys.”

Notes: New York finalized its $2 million, one-year contract with right-hander Paul Blackburn.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

FILE - Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ryan Weathers throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sept. 24, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson, File)